Perhaps an ART Pro Channel II, or TPS II, might scratch the itch? They can be found fairly cheap, and have some features that might prove to be entertaining.
I think it allowed me more control of gain into the Steinberg UR22mkii i use. oh how i like to mess with pre & post gain on the preamps to get <<<level>>> basically what is coming out the speaker into the mic's. Usually on the cone & the 45 for guitars. That became my set it & forget it game. And going from heavy to mellow & all things in between quite often with no real adjustments other then gain
You should be thankful to be that able. I'm still trying to learn Three blind mice on guitar.
I mess up on "see how they run."
Sounds nice. Boyo is still in school and rents are high. Dangit. I can laugh about it.
I am pretty satisfied with the way the mixes sound and they compete pretty well with all the DIY people I hang around with but the vocals ain't as good as I am. It's kinda neat that we set up and mostly know how it's going to work.
There's a MkIV now, which is about £300 new over here (US $379), so not a trivial purchase. A used MkIII is more like £180 (US $228), so a lot more affordable. Whether @Dado has mics good enough to show a difference, and whether the existing DAW interface line-in will make the best of the signal are unknowns, really. Some mics are fussier than others when it comes to input impedance and the GAP offering lacks the variable input impedance on the Neve 1073. On the other hand, the GAP offerings are very good value for money.
I'm using Izotope Nectar Elements. Since it's the baby version I don't have total control of all the parameters, but I find it gives me a good starting point.
It's not lousy. If you maximized that humble equipment, it would be fine for release.
Hey Brad, remember when I was asking you and Chris for tips about mastering ancient material for vinyl? I just found out that the place the label uses is here in Austin. I'm gonna pay a visit this week.